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The Tabletop Experiment - Choose Ur Own Adventure	By : yosakazure Category: Yu-Gi-Oh > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 8395 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! and no profit has been made or will be made.

Chapter List
- 54
- 55
- 56
Epilogue: The Ending of All Endings

AKA cliche ending that I can't believe I haven't come up with yet
AKA The Days After
AKA A Day With Them
[A/N: Yes, "Training" is still in the works, but it's SOOO LONG and I felt like I needed to write a chapter with somewhat happier substance before I get completely submerged in the other one.]
Yugi woke up in a cold sweat and found his fingertips were sore from clawing at the sheets and he had been curled up in a fetal position. His face was stained with semi-dry tears and he was shivering from head to toe. As he panted in the darkness, he felt a warm hand wrap around his waist and flinched at first before a familiar murring told him it was Atem. With a sigh of relief, he felt himself get pulled against the Egyptian's warm chest and relaxed in his hold.
"Another nightmare, aibou?" murmured the Egyptian who sleepily buried his face in Yugi's damp locks.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you..." Yugi sniffled, wiping his face on the sheet.
"Don't be silly," Atem sighed into Yugi's neck. "So what was this one about?"
Ever since their escape from "The Table" as they have come to call it, each of them have had several nightmares about what could've happened. So many different versions have flashed through their dreams that it had become hard for either of them to remember what happened during the actual event. The main details were there, but the circumstances were becoming fuzzier and fuzzier, for better or for worse.
Although the two did have separate rooms, they agreed it was just better to share Yugi's room since it was big enough for the both of them. Then it dwindled from two beds to one. Whenever each other had a nightmare, they would discuss it. Sometimes they would laugh at the crazy endings. But then sometimes they would share a few tears when they replayed the awful ones and comfort each other. Yugi had dreamed that Atem died and got him home. Atem had dreamed that he burned down the place they were held captive in. Both dreamed that they were auctioned off. Atem dreamed they escaped in a ferrari. Yugi dreamed that an "earthquake" destroyed Malik's complex. It had been somewhat therapeutic to hear each other talk about it. There were ways for them to laugh at it and there were ways for them to see how much worse it could have been.
"Remember the fat guy that we dreamed we were sold to?" Yugi asked.
Atem shuddered as he recalled that hideous oaf from their nightmares, "Unfortunately..."
"I dreamed he held us longer and made us do horrible things to train ourselves for his benefit," Yugi muttered. He went into detail about the things they were forced to do and what finally led to their escape.
"Well at least we got away?" Atem offered as a bright side to the very long and detailed explanation.
"Hmph. Do me a favor, if we're really ever held captive for that long and forced to do that much stuff, just shoot me. It'd be more merciful."
"Don't talk like that, aibou," Atem pleaded as he left small kisses on the back of Yugi's neck. "You might jinx it."
Yugi giggled, feeling better already. "Oh so you don't have a problem shooting me, then?"
"No, I do. In fact, it would just be my luck that I shoot you and it wouldn't kill you. Then I'd have to do it again and make a mess."
"You're so bad!" Yugi laughed and turned in Atem's embrace to face him and give him a gentle shove in the chest. "How could you miss a shot to the face?"
"You didn't say the face! I could never shoot you there. I like your face..." Atem pouted grimly.
"I like your face too," Yugi smiled and gave him a sweet kiss.
Saturday morning came and the two awoke to the sound of Yugi's alarm clock. Atem opened his eyes and sneakily tried to turn off the alarm before it awoke Yugi so he could shower first but an even quicker hand hit the button! At the click, Atem looked up and saw Yugi's mother hovering over them, which scared the crap out of Atem. Thankfully Yugi had rolled over to the other side of the bed in the middle of the night so it wasn't like they were in any sort of a compromising position that they should be ashamed of in front of the teen's mother but...
"YOU TWO SHOULD HAVE BEEN AWAKE HALF AN HOUR AGO!" she shouted, already dressed in her signature apron and a soup ladel held threateningly in her hand. "You promised jii-san that you would help stock the store for the Saturday rush before you went to school!"
"But Kaa-san-OW!" Atem winced as the ladel came down on his head and then Yugi's who woke up fussing and very confused.
"Don't But Kaa-san, ME! Now hurry up and get ready! SHOO SHOO!" she shouted, grabbing Atem and shoving him toward the bathroom first.
As Atem ran to the bathroom, he could hear Yugi's mom chewing out her son about being lazy. Poor sleepy Yugi didn't even protest as he followed her to the kitchen in his star pajamas to help make their lunches for the afternoon until Atem finished showering. As Atem quickly tore off his pajama bottoms (he didn't like wearing a pajama top as it felt too warm in the spring) and hopped into the shower, he racked his brains to try and remember. As he poured shampoo into his hair, he realized he did promise that he and Yugi would stock the shelves yesterday evening but he was in a hurry to get upstairs and finish homework that he had been putting off so it slipped his memory.
"When did I become such a procrastinator...?" thought Atem as he used the shower head to rinse the shampoo out of his hair. It's true, after "The Table", silly things like homework didn't seem to be as important. Though the young pharaoh never really liked school to begin with. As a child, he would flee from his tutor, Siamun Muran, and hide in the giant pots that were in the courtyard to escape lessons. So anybody who really knew Atem as a kid wouldn't find his behavior unusual in the slightest.
As he rinsed the shampoo out of his eyes, Atem heard the shower door slide open and felt arms slide around his waist, startling him a little from his thoughts until he realized quickly it was Yugi. "I finished making our lunches," Yugi explained quietly so his voice wouldn't echo in the shower. "I thought if I joined you, we could get ready faster and help jii-chan. You failed to mention that you promised BOTH of us would stock the shop," he added icily.
Atem chuckled nervously and handed Yugi the shampoo. "I'm sorry, it slipped my mind."
"Hmph. So are we still going to view the cherry blossoms after school? Just you and me?" Yugi asked as he shampooed his hair.
"Yes, just the two of us. The others had plans to see them with their own families anyway. I believe Jonouchi was going to see his sister," Atem confirmed as he used a washcloth to scrub himself clean.
Yugi nodded. "We can see the cherry blossoms with them another day anyway," he added after reaching for the shower head too and rinsing himself off.
Atem looked over and saw the distant look in his eyes. With a knowing look he reached over and held Yugi's hand. "You don't need to feel guilty, aibou. They understand."
"I just feel so bad. We have been a little distant from them lately..." the smaller duelist explained.
"They know we will ask them if we need anything. We're still healing. Things will be back to the way they were in no time."
"I know. You're right," Yugi smiled and gave Atem's hand a squeeze before letting go to finish getting clean. "Let's have fun today!"
"Yes," Atem nodded with a smile and hopped out of the shower to dry himself off and get dressed. "I'll see you in the shop. Don't take too long or Kaa-san will come after you again."
"That was your fault, you know!" Yugi shouted, tossing a wet washcloth at Atem.
Atem laughed as he dodged the soggy cloth, fleeing the bathroom in his school uniform and hurrying downstairs.
It wasn't long before both were in the shop helping Mr. Mutou stock the shelves full of new games and filling the glass cases with new packs of Duel Monster cards. With the three of them working together, they were done in almost no time. All they had left were the finishing touches and stomping the empty cardboard boxes into flat shapes to put into the recycling bin out back.
"So what are you boys doing after school today?" asked the elder Mutou as he started locking up the cases.
"We're just going to hang out in the park for a bit," Yugi replied. "We'll be home in time for dinner."
"Well if you stay out later than you planned, please call."
Atem stayed silent as he stomped the cardboard boxes flat.
"Er...yeah, we will," Yugi replied awkwardly. He knew jii-chan meant he didn't want a repeat incident.
A bell rang in the distance and both teens grabbed their bags in a hurry to leave for school.
"Bye, jii-chan!" Yugi shouted as they left.
"Be safe, you two!" the old man called out behind them.
Atem was practically stomping far ahead of Yugi as if he was looking for more boxes to crush. Yugi chased after him, sensing the Egyptian was upset. When he caught up, he could hear Atem muttering something.
"It's not as if we planned to get abducted..."
"That's not what he meant, Atem! You know that!" Yugi reached for the former pharaoh's hand and grabbed it, stopping him from going any further. "You know nobody blames either of us for what happened."
"Maybe we shouldn't have told them anything, aibou. You've seen the way your mother looks at us. And this morning! She tried to catch us!"
"I think you're being a little paranoid, mou hitori no boku. You haven't known her long enough, but she's always been-"
"Not that! I mean she always knocks on the door when she wants to wake us up. This time she snuck into the room. She wanted to make sure I wasn't...that we weren't..."
"Well even if she was. What does it matter? I love you. Nothing can change that!" Yugi squeezed Atem's hand tightly and stared down at the sidewalk. Things really have been hard for the both of them, especially when they revealed what they had to do in order to be freed from "the table".
Atem squeezed it back and sighed, "Even if nobody blames us, Yugi, I feel like some trust has been broken and it worries me."
They began walking again, not letting go of each other's hands. They were quiet for a few seconds as their stride had slowed down but finally Yugi spoke again. "You know, it's not just us who are healing. The others, our friends and family, they were worried sick. They're healing too."
"You're right...I suppose they are."
In the classroom, the two sat next to each other and chatted with Anzu (Tea), Jonouchi (Joey), and Honda (Tristan) before class started. Ryou (Bakura) eventually showed up and joined the chat as well and even Otogi (Duke) showed up from the class next door to say good morning. Kaiba didn't say much from across the room but he did send Atem a nod of acknowledgement before he sat down at his desk and Atem gave a small smile back.
They were all excited about the cherry blossom viewing this afternoon, Jonouchi most of all since he was going to see his sister. Honda was still begging to come along and Otogi was trying to invite himself in but Jonouchi vehemently shot them both down, earning a lot of laughter from the group. Though the whole group had been acting casually since the incident as if nothing happened, it was rare for all of them to be in the room like this in the morning so the twin duelists knew that something was up. They didn't mind, though. Their silent support had helped them in more ways than one.
Anzu and Jonouchi had been especially protective. Ever since the uproar around the city surrounding their disappearance, Yugi and Atem have been receiving some cautious stares from their classmates. Though the two generally ignored them, the others glared them down as if daring them to stare for a second longer. According to everybody, the two had been gone for three days. But they could only remember those few hours they spent tied down to "the table". So this made the nightmares they have even scarier. Were they memories or were they just the product of their brains trying to come up for substitutes of missing memories? All they knew for certain was that both their bodies showed signs of physical assault. Both were found in the Kame Game Shop's back yard and had appeared to have been bound by their wrists and ankles, and both had injection sites on their bodies.
Being duelist celebrities, there was a mad search for them. Even Kaiba had supported the search effort with his own private investigation squad...but only after they were missing for 36 hours. But it's the thought that counts, right?
The two were found unconscious and dumped in the backyard like a pile of trash by Yugi's grandpa. Their clothes were filthy and Atem was clinging to Yugi for dear life and Yugi had his fingers in a death grip around the puzzle. Their clothes looked like they had been scorched and poor jii-chan nearly had a heart attack, fearing them to be dead until he saw Yugi stirring. Once they were in the hospital and had come to, they described where they were but the police couldn't find any place like the one they had described. Going by their burnt clothing, they searched for any torched buildings and the only one they could find was an old TV studio that had burned down the day they were found.
Eventually they had to reveal the sexual trauma that they both remembered. Yugi's family was horrified to say the least. They kept the details vauge around their friends but it didn't take long for the media to spread everything about their experience. Half of it wasn't even true, so they were forced to tell their friends what was reality and what was fiction and then they were in on it too. Eventually after the initial awkwardness had ended, they all consoled Yugi and Atem, telling them that none of it was their fault. Yugi's mother even kindly offered to pay for them to have therapy but both declined. It had been a couple of months since the incident happened and except for the occassional nightmare, things have relatively gone back to normal. Mostly.
In all honesty, the only thing that hasn't gone back to normal was Yugi and Atem's relationship. The two have always been close, but this has brought them even closer. Yugi had gone back to calling him Mou Hitori no Boku, but for a different reason than before. Atem really had become his other self...in a romantic sense. Although the Pharaoh is still the person he strives to be like someday, he really has become his rock. And Atem could say the same for Yugi. Even his nickname for him, aibou, has taken a different turn. Yugi was more than just his partner...he was his PARTNER. Hint hint.
The only problem is that they haven't really been that physical and neither have actually confirmed the status of their relationship, fearing that going into too soon would stir up emotions that they weren't ready to handle right now. Not to mention, being closely watched by their family and friends has made it hard to have any real privacy. They only felt safe in their soul rooms but even that territory feels like it has been intruded upon with the ever present shadows of nightmares that threaten to linger and then strike once they hit unconsciousness.
Lessons were a welcome distraction for Yugi but for Atem they just frustrated him to no end. Yes, Egyptians were capable of advanced mathematics, but these abstract concepts that were invented by those flamboyant Greeks really irked him. Yugi told him he was in no place to argue that the Greeks were flamboyant and with that Atem would only reply with a stare and say that Yugi wasn't there. He had no idea.
These sort of arguments would continue to lunch time. "Well they probably thought you Egyptians were nuts!"
"We weren't nuts, we liked to party. There's a difference!" Atem defended while he Yugi were exiting the grounds. Since it's Saturday, they could leave around noon and head to the park.
"Well they were just as smart and innovative as you guys, so why do you give them such a hard time?"
"Because their math is too difficult and it's useless! Geometry, now THAT is math."
"The Greeks came up with formulas for Geometry, too, you know."
"Yes, but we had the same ones and you don't see us getting any credit for it."
Yugi sighed and walked with Atem to the park where the cherry blossoms were in full bloom. "Well if you have such a problem with it, why don't you get to work writing a book that corrects history?"
"Too much work. Besides, I was never much of a scholar. That's Siamun-I mean your grandfather's field of expertise anyway."
"I still can't believe jii-chan is your tutor's reincarnation!"
"Trust me, I can't believe it either. But it has worked conveniently in our favor. On the other hand, he sure does act a lot like him...a little too much," Atem frowned as he remembers how the elder Mutou kept catching him trying to sneak out in the middle of the night to have some fun on his own, having missed the night life during all of his years trapped in the puzzle with only Yugi's body to borrow.
Yugi caught a glimpse of this memory going through Atem's mind and giggled. "You never mention any good memories from your past life, except your memories of your father. What did you do at night all those times you snuck out?"
Atem smiled. "Alright, I'll tell you. But first, we need to find a spot."
Being early afternoon on a Saturday, the park was pretty crowded, but the two did manage to find what they dubbed the best spot in the park. It was underneath a short, but thick cherry tree that was just tall enough for them to sit under and had enough foliage to provide them with enough pink shade. They could also see all the other cherry trees in the distance and watch all the other families enjoy the warm spring weather contently. Yugi had brought a thin blanket which they sat on while they enjoyed their bento lunches that Yugi had made that morning.
"So I would sneak out of the palace to gamble, in disguise of course. Siamun would rarely catch me, but once he caught onto me, there was no stopping him. It got to the point where he would challenge me to games. If he won, I had to go back to bed. If I won, I was allowed to go out. Being a man of my word, he knew if he won, I would have no choice but to stay in bed. Believe it or not, he did win quite a few times. But once I started winning, there was nothing he could do to stop me. I had a happy childhood for the most part, but in my early teen years I was very unsettled. I could feel tension in the air constantly, but I didn't know why. So I would relieve stress by finding ways to get into trouble. But some of the happiest times of my life were outside the palace walls and hanging out with other kids my age that would cheer me on when I would beat adults at their own games. Mahado and Mana were great, but Mana was very young and Mahado was kind of uptight. So seeing the outside world made me feel like a real kid."
Yugi's head by this time had migrated into Atem's lap and he stared up lazily at the cherry blossoms while Atem relived his happiest times with a small smile on his lips. Without either of them realizing it, they had both eventually gone quiet and spent the afternoon lounging beneath their runt of a cherry tree in content silence. The only noise that was made was the tinkling of the puzzle's chain when Atem became uncomfortable sitting against the trunk of the tree and moved to lie beside Yugi and gaze up at the blossoms with him. Soon their hands were linked and the laughter of children and the chirping of birds seemed so far away as they felt like they were drifting away into their own little world.
Both lied there for a long time, not speaking, but rather enthralled at how moments like this could pass so slowly and yet in hindsight seem to pass so quickly. Before they knew it, the sun had begun to set and the park was almost empty. Neither wanted to move for fear of ending the moment, but both of them were sore from lying on the hard ground and they had promised to be home in time for dinner. So reluctantly, Atem was the first to move and he sat up. He looked to see if Yugi had fallen asleep but found instead Yugi was squeezing his hand as if asking him to stay a little longer.
"Yugi, your family will worry."
"They're your family too, you know. They always have been."
Atem smiled and turned to hover over Yugi, kissing his forehead sweetly. "I'm so happy that the gods have allowed me to stay with you for a little longer, through good and bad."
Yugi let out a tiny happy sigh as Atem's breath washed over his face and the small kiss left a sweet burning sensation on his forehead. He took Atem's face in his hands and cupped his cheeks gently in his palms, looking deep into his crimson eyes as he drank in the sight of him. "Together forever, like we promised."
Atem could feel himself melting in Yugi's warm hands and turned his face in them to kiss his fingertips. "Mm-hmm...forever."
Yugi gently pulled Atem's face closer and both their lips met in a long, tender kiss. Said kiss lead to another and another until both were in a tight embrace on the blanket and their kisses had become longer and passionate. It was only when a very rude crow cawed through the silent spring air that the two realized that the sun had gone completely down and the street lights were now on.
"Er...maybe we should head back now..." Yugi suggested.
"Good idea," Atem replied, carefully untangling his limbs from Yugi's and helping him fold the blanket and pick up the remains of their lunches before walking back with him with their book bags in tow.
The two walked briskly through the busy streets of Domino, beating the foot traffic of all the late night workers and finally made it home, practically sprinting during the last couple of blocks.
"SAFE!" both shouted as they made it to the finish line where jii-chan was getting ready to close up shop.
"There you are! Both of you better finish your homework and get cleaned up for dinner," the old man advised.
The two nodded and hurried upstairs, shouting a greeting to Yugi's mom before closing the door to Yugi's room and getting to their homework. Yugi's desk was next to his bed and Atem's desk was on the other side of the room as they found each other very distracting when they had both desks pushed together. After a while, Yugi could hear Atem grumbling about their math homework again and he could only laugh.
"Just let me cheat off you, aibou!" Atem groaned. "We share memories for everything else! What harm can math do?"
"You can depend on me for English and Japanese, but I draw the line at math. It's not my strong suit either. You have to learn on your own so we can help each other!" Yugi protested.
"Can we just do this tomorrow? I can't think on an empty stomach," he pouted while balancing his pencil on his nose.
"You're starting to sound like Jonouchi-kun. Besides, kaa-san will come after you if you slack on your homework~," Yugi sing-songed.
With the memory of Yugi's mother, Atem's spine stiffened in terror and he resumed his homework without complaint...or at least audible complaint.
Yugi giggled and resumed his work. Just as he had finished, though, he felt strong arms wrap around his shoulders and inhaled the scent of his partner draping himself over him. "All done?" Atem asked.
"Mm-hmm...and you?"
"Almost..." Atem replied, leaning very far over to look down at Yugi's answers.
Yugi caught on really quickly and elbowed Atem in the stomach! "You're not finished at all! You're copying off of me!"
"OOF!" Atem clutched his stomach and hobbled back. Yugi didn't hit him that hard but come on! "Stop being stingy!"
"How are you supposed to survive in this era if you can't be bothered to do your homework? You're not the pharaoh anymore, you have to actually do some work!"
"Are you saying that being Pharaoh wasn't work?"
"I'm saying you got away with a lot," Yugi retorted, sticking his tongue out at the former Egyptian.
"That's it, you're going to get it, aibou!" Atem shouted, taking off his puzzle and leaving it on the desk before tackling Yugi to the ground and tickling him!
"NOO! NOO! STOP! AAHAHAHAHAAHAHAH! I'M TELLING KAA-SAN!"
"Kaa-san can't save you now! SURRENDER, YUGI!" Atem cackled, tickling Yugi under his arms and making omnom noises while he nibbled on Yugi's neck.
Meanwhile, Yugi's mother was stir frying tonight's dinner and could hear the two rough housing upstairs. Normally she'd go up there and tell them to stop making such a racket but it's been so long since she's heard them laugh so much that she couldn't bear to interrupt. It was nice to have the house noisy again. Even jii-chan was in the living room and laughing it up at hearing the boys tear into each other upstairs. Finally, she couldn't help but laugh too.
As the sounds from the kitchen got louder and as jii-chan turned up the TV to hear the news, neither noticed that the laughing had stopped. Upstairs, Atem seemed to want to further torture Yugi by stealing his breath whilst kissing him deeply. The two were still on the floor with Atem pinning Yugi down and they seemed to have picked up from where they left off in the park, tangled in each other's embrace and kissing passionately to the point that they had to take turns panting for breath. As heated as their kisses would become, though, there was always a point where one of them would pull back. This time it was Yugi who mumbled his apologies while Atem pressed their foreheads together and told him it was okay. Whenever this happened, they would just hold onto each other tightly as they softly panted to catch their breaths, neither saying anything until one was ready to move again. This was just how things were for the time being. Neither felt each other was ready to make the next big step after what the first time was like. They felt so rushed that it was almost like the first time never even happened so they wanted to take their time to sort out how they really felt before progressing any further. They felt their closeness during the incident might have been triggered by the need for survival and felt a little uncomfortable at first once they were freed. But after the first month, all the subtle glances and blushing faces summed up what they felt for each other was in fact real and what happened next was all up to them. Nobody was going to force them to do anything else.
During the struggle, they had lost their school jackets and their house slippers. Yugi's blank tank had been pushed up over his belly and Atem's collar had ended up on the floor somewhere. They both chuckled and sat up to fix themselves up before they were called downstairs for dinner.
After dinner, both duelists had changed into their pajamas and Atem finally finished his homework now that he didn't have an empty stomach to use as an excuse. Tonight Yugi's pajamas were sky blue and Atem wore black pajama bottoms. And that was it. While it did provide Yugi with a good view, he couldn't help but go red in the face whenever Atem walked around the house like that in front of his mother. It just didn't seem proper.
Yugi finished brushing his teeth in the bathroom and returned to the bedroom to find Atem was putting his school books away rather unceremoniously. In fact, he shoved them into the bag with a lot of contempt
"You should be nice to your school books, Atem. We have to return those at the end of the year, you know."
Atem looked up after tossing the bag back into the chair. "Well it's not like the books are doing me any favors."
Yugi laughed and crawled into bed with Atem following shortly after once he turned the lights off. After they were both cozy with Yugi facing the wall and Atem snuggled closely behind him they were ready to start falling asleep.
"Atem...?"
"Hm?"
"What do you want to do tomorrow?"
"Idunno..."
"Can it just be you and me again? Just for this weekend?"
"If that's what you want, aibou..." he murmured while nuzzling the back of Yugi's head.
"I think that would be a lot of fun..." Yugi cooed while he felt himself drifting to sleep.
"I think so too."
FIN
(OR IS IT!?)
- 54
- 55
- 56
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The Tabletop Experiment - Choose Ur Own Adventure